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1 TJNIYERSITY 0]^ GEOKdIA, 



GENERAL ASSEMBLY 






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K O TI G H T O N, N T S B E T AND B A K N I^. 
STATE PRINTERS. 




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REPORT AND MEMORIAL 

OF THE 

TRUSTEES 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, 

TO THE 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE. 



The Committee, consisting of the College Faculty, and the 
members of the Prudential Committee, to whom the matter was 
referred by the Board of Trustees at the last annual meeting at 
Athens, submit by way of report for consideration, the following 
papers, drawn up by members of the committee, and after repeat- 
ed discussions, agreed to as follows : 

The Board of Trustees of the University of Georgia feel called 
upon by an enlightened public sentiment, to present some facts 
for the consideration of the Representatives of the people in Gen- 
eral Assembly met, in connection with the interest of our State 
University, and consequently with the interests of the people 
themselves. 

It is not to be disguised, that without the effective and early cor 
operation of the people and the Legislature, Franklin College 
cannot accomplish all the work and fully carry out the objects of 
its noble and patriotic founders. 

It Is true that the College is well established so far as it goes, 
and its friends are not ashamed to challenge attention to the re- 
sults of its labors during the fifty-four years of its operation, con- 
sidering its limited means. 

At this time we consider it very important to the people of our 
great State, that the public mind should be drawn to this deeply 
interesting subject ; and in order to the formation of a correct de- 
cision in regard to the future destiny of our University, we deem 
it necessary to give a brief outline of its past history. 

Shortly after our Independence as a State was acknowledged 
by Great Britain, in the year 1784, our Legislature enacted a law 
getting apart 40,000 acres of the best land in the State for the per- 
manent endowment of a University, which it was declared should 
never be appropriated to any other use whatever. 

At the next session of the Legislature in the year 1785, the act 
was passed, which may be considered the charter of the Univer- 
Bity, appointing its Trustees and providing for its location and 



organization. In the preamble of the charter, is most beautifully 
set forth the great importance which our wise and patriotic fathers 
of Revolutionary times attached to the liberal and permanent 
endowment of a great State Institution of learning, such as they 
thought they then were founding. 

Again, in the year 1798, the framers of our present State Con- 
stitution declared that the Arts and Sciences should be promoted, 
and that the Legislature shall (not may) as soon as conveniently 
may be, give such further donations and privileges to this Institu- 
tion already established by law, as may be necessary to secure 
the objects of its founders, and that it shall be the duty of the 
Legislature at its next session to provide effectual measures for 
the improvement and permanent security of the funds and lands * 
of said Institution. But this endowment of lands made to the 
University, were not thus secured by the Legislature ; but from 
time to time, this noble domain of 40,000 acres of the best lands 
in Georgia, has been reduced down by legislation to its present en- 
dowment of $100,000 ; upon which the College has thus far been 
principally sustained. We will not extend this paper by^giving, 
as we could do, all the details of the several transactions con- 
nected with this noble donation of lands, reducing it to less than 
one fourth part of its intrinsic value. Suffice it to say, that when 
all the attending circumstances are taken into consideration, we 
do not impugn the motives of any of the public authorities, who 
brought about these transactions, by which the endowment of the 
University was reduced as before stated, to ^100,000. It is true, 
that at different times, other appropriations have been made to 
erect buildings, .amounting to some thirty or forty thousand dol^ 
lars, but the State Treasury has been reimbursed for these appro- 
priations out of the 40,000 acres of land before referred to. 

The College has received some other aid, but not from the 
State- The late Gov. Milledgemade to the College, for the loca- 
tion of its buildings, the generous donation of G40 acres of land ; 
and the late John Marks of the county of Madison, gave $1000 to 
the College Library; and recently our distinguished and worthy 
fellow-citizen, Dr, Wm. Terrell of Hancock,. has given the Col- 
lege $20^000 to endow a Professorship of Agriculture, which, lib- 
eral as it is, is altogether inadequate to the accomplishment of all . 
that should be desired in that department ; for no other object is 
so intimately connected with the permanent interests of the whole 
State, as that of the skillful cultivation, preservation and improve- 
ment of its soil. And now, let us inquire into the results achieved 
by those who have had the management of this Institution, and 
ascertain how they have used the means placed at their disposal 

The College has now been in operation for more than fifty years, 
and during that period its Faculty, as si. whole, would compare fa- 
vorably with that of any other College of like limited means, as 
is fully evinced by the character and standing of the students 
who have gone forth from it. Proper discipline aad order have 
as uniformly been maintained in tliis as any other similar Institu- 
tion. From the best data in our possession, we estimate that up- 
wards of 2500 young men have received more or less instruction 
here. Of that number, upwards of 800 have become regular 



3 

graduates, and have received their diplomas as such, and a consid- 
erable portion of the remainder have received an amount of in- 
struction which has placed them in the ranks of well educated 
men. Indeed, the young men who have received their educa- 
tion here, will compare favorably in all the avocations of life, with 
the same number of students turned out from any literary Institu- 
tion in our broad land. There is no place in Church or State, the 
duties of which might not be well discharged by students of this 
Institution. The College is free from debt and entirely unembar- 
rassed in its limited financial affairs. As our means would war- 
rant, we have gradually extended and enlarged the course of in- 
struction, and increased our Library Philosophical apparatus, cab- 
inet of minerals and other useful collections ; and greatly added 
to and improved our building accommodations for the nse of both 
Faculty and Stiidents. These expenditures have been met chiefly 
by funds arising from the sale of the town lots into which the 
lands donated by Gov. Milledge have been divided. 

It is believed that the College Buildings, the Chapel, Philo- 
sophical Hall, Library, Students' Halls, the houses of the Presi- 
dent and Professors with their various appendages, are worth up- 
wards of |?100,000. All these buildings are in good repair. 

Thus it will be seen that not a single dollar of the original 
capital of ^100,000 has been expended, while this property has 
advanced in value to a sum exceeding the original capital. This 
property, however, only adds to the facilities of carrying forward 
the objects of the Institution, without affording any income what- 
ever to extend and enlarge its operations. From first to last, the 
grade of scholarship in this Institution has been gradually advan- 
cing, and our object in coming before the Legislature, is not to ask 
for aid to maintain our present ground, but we think that the time 
has arrived when our great State should have something more than 
a respectable College, and should aspire to the accomplishment 
of the objects which our wise predecessors had in view by the estab- 
lishment of a University, where learning and knowledge, which 
qualify men for all the varied avocations of useful human pur- 
suits, may be acquired. Why may not Georgia, the central State 
of the South, hold out inducements to her surrounding sisters, 
which may obviate the necessity of sending our Southern sons to 
Massachusetts, or even to the Old Dominion, for the purpose of ac- 
quiring any knowledge which can be obtained from men or books. 

We herewith submit a detailed statement of the different schools 
which we deem most desirable to be added to and connected with 
our State University, together with an estimate of the necessary 
amounts for endowing them. 

The Faculty at this time consists of a President, six Professors, 
including the Professor of Agriculture and two Tutors. The sal- 
aries of these officers have varied at different times, being regula- 
ted by our income. The President has never received less than 
$2000; nor more than $2500 per annum. The Professors never 
less than $1400, nor more than $2000 each, per annum, and the 
salaries of the Tutors have varied from $700 to $1000 each, and 
we arc at this time giving the highest rate of salaries above 
named, the Tutors excepted, who are paid $800. 



Our resources for tlie payment of these salaries, for the increase 
of the Library and various other incidental expenses, consist en- 
tirely of the interest on the endowment of $100,000, guarantied 
by the State to bear 8 per cent, and the interest on about -$20,000, 
proceeds of the sale of lots, and vested in 6 and 7 per cent, stocks, 
together with tuition fees. 

The number of students now in attendance, is about 100. From 
the foregoing statements Avhich may be relied upon as accurate, 
it will be seen that our pecuniary affairs have been managed with 
a skill and economy which may challenge comparison with any 
other similar Institution whatever. 

The number of students in Franklin College gradually increased 
for many years, but has recently somewhat declined. This dimi- 
nution of numbers may be readily accounted for, without resort- 
ing to frJlacious causes. It is no fault of the Faculty or Trustees; 
neither do we charge blame or censure upon any portion of our 
population. Yet it is too obvious to be denied or concealed, that 
the increase of students at Franklin College has been checked by 
the rivalry of similar institutions which have sprung up in our 
State in the course of the last few years. Three of the most nu- 
merous and influential religious denominations of our State have 
all a College in successful operation. These denominational Col- 
leges have been gotten up and thus far sustained, exclusively by 
the voluntary donations and exertions of the members and friends 
of these respective denominations of Christians. We take much 
pleasure in using this occasion to say that we esteem their labors 
in efSciently advancing the cause of education, as deserving the 
highest meed of praise and th9 unfeigned approbation of every 
friend of Christian education. We tender them our earnest wish- 
es for their enlargement and usefulness. Some of these Institu- 
tions are already more liberally endowed than our State Univer- 
sity, and all of them have more active agents in the field, striv- 
ing zealously for their advancement, than can be found engaged 
in our behalf. While these denominational Colleges are constant- 
ly receiving efficient aid from the Associations which have estab- 
lished them, ours, with a single exception, has received but little 
aid or encouragement from any quarter. 

Notwithstanding the support and advantages possessed by these 
colleges, to which we have adverted, we, nevertheless, do not suf- 
fer ourselves to doubt that our State College has ability to sus- 
tain and maintain a distinguished station among them, and to 
hold an honorable competition with all other similar Institutions. 
It has an abiding place in the affections of every true-hearted 
and enlightened Georgian, who cherishes the memory of those 
noble patriots who framed our present State Constitution. 

Here all can worship together on common ground. Methodists, 
Baptists and Presbyterians, together with their adherents, consti- 
tute a large majority of the people of Georgia, and if they are 
not disposed to have an Institution of learning of higher grade, 
than any one of them can accomplish singly and alone, we admit 
that they have the power to prevent it by frustrating all efforts to 
build up a University suited to the wants of a great and growing 
people. But we cannot bring ourselves to doubt that the enlight- 



enecl Oliristlan men of all these denominations stand ready, as do 
all good men and Christians, to take a leading part in appealing to 
their representatives in the Llsgislature, to anse from their long 
slumber, and carry out the views of the framers of our Constitu- 
tion by a liberal endowment of our State University. If it is 
ever to be done, the sooner the better, both for our advancement and 
honor. Let us consult no local, sectional or sectarian interests 
in this connection. The grand object soars above all such selfish 
considerations. It is not limited by sectarian or party vicM^s. 

In this paper our limits will not suffer us to specify all the ob- 
jects which we have in view, but allow us only to mention the 
.more important, viz : that of enlarging the Academical Faculty, 
and of appending to the Institution such schools as will convert 
it from a mere College into a University. 

There is confessedly needed at least one additional Professor- 
ship : that of Modern Languages and Literature. There is also 
a public demand for the establishment of a school of Law ; a 
school for the application of Science to the industrial arts ; and a 
school of Agriculture. 

The School of Law should embrace the common laW; the 
statute Law, constitutional laAV, commercial law, parliamentary^ and 
international law, together with equity and Admiralty juris- 
prudence and proper references to the civil law. 

Connected with this school, should be a course of instruction 
for merchants and other business men, embracing the law of Agen- 
cy, of Partnership, of Bailments, of Bills of Exchange and Pro- 
missory Notes, of Insurance, of Shipping and other maritime 
concerns, together with the law of sales and other contracts. 

There should be taught also in this school. Medical Jurispru- 
dence, and so much of Anatomy and Physiology as are necessary 
to a liberal course of legal studies. No examination should l^e re- 
quired and no particular course of previous study for admission 
to the law school. 

In the school for the application of Science to the Industrial 
Arts, instruction should be given to young men, with a view to 
fit them for the various pursuits of life, such as Engineering and 
the business of Artisans, Manufacturers, Agriculturists, Chemists 
and Miners. In the department of Engineering, should be taught 
Surveying in all its branches ; 

Drawing — Topographical, Geometrical and Architectural, with 
shading and tinting; the application of Descriptive Geometry to 
Masonry and Stone-cutting, as well as to Civil and Mechanical 
Engineering. 

The principles of Architecture. 

The application of Mechanics to Machinery and Engineering. 

The science of Construction in all its branches, together with 
the mode of preparing building materials. 

The location of Roads. 

Surveys for Excavations and Embankments. 

Bridge-building and Piling. 

The use of Astronomical Instruments ; and the ascertaining of 
time as well as latitude and longitude. 

The Agricultural School only requires the enlargement of the 



6 

Terrell Professorship of Agriculture. In this school should be 
established an analytical laboratory, in which the student could 
daily receive instruction in Analytical Chemistry and its applica- 
tion to the analysis of soils and manures. 

The assaying of ores and minerals. The quantitative and qual- 
itative analysis of mineral waters. 

The testing of Drugs and Medicines. 

The art of Dyeing ; and the preparation and preservation of 
food. A desirable appendage to this department would be an ex- 
perimental farm, where the principles of agriculture could be illus- 
trated by practice. 

No one should be admitted to these schools of applied science 
for a shorter period than one month. 

To accommodate the foregoing wants of the University, addi- 
tional buildings will be required. The Law School will require 
an indej)endent building with a library, and rooms must be provi- 
ded for the schools of applied science, In support of this scheme 
of enlargement, the following considerations are respectfully 
presented. 

1st. As to the Professorship of Modern Languages. In asking 
an endowment for a Professorship of Modern Languages in Frank- 
lin College, your petitioners would submit the following reasons 
for such a request : 

The study of modern languages should be pursued as a means 
of mental discipline. One object which is proposed in the edu- 
cation of our youth is such a training of the mind as will qualify 
it to grapple successfully with those difficulties which may be en- 
countered in the details of j)ractical life. If the judgment be ma- 
tured, the reasoning faculties strengthened, the memory invigora- 
ted and the taste refined, the mind is in the true sense of the 
word educated. Experience has demonstrated that there are few 
methods by which the powers of the intellect may be improved so 
effectively as by the study of languages foreign to our own. — 
Thoroughly to understand their grammatical structure, to supply 
in the translation the word which exactly expresses the import of 
the original, to render foreign idioms, by a construction which shall 
not violate the purity of language, to enter fully into the spirit of 
the author whose meaning we wish to convey, must beget habits 
of attention and accuracy in the highest degree valuable. For 
centuries the Latin and Greek classics liave occupied a prominent 
place in every system of liberal education. Abundant testimony 
has been borne by the wisest men of all lands, to their great 
utility, as a means of intellectual training. For this purpose the 
modern languages may be in some respects inferior to the ancient, 
but many reasons by which the study of the latter may be defend- 
ed, apply with equal force to the former. 

But there is a practical advantage of great value arising from 
the study of modern languages. From our great and increasing 
facilities of communication with the old world, we are constantly 
brought into contact with its population and its literature, whilst 
we have adjacent to us, on our own continent, both on the north 
and on the south, people speaking and writing a different tongue 
from our vernacular. Both at home and abroad, we must be fre- 



quently encountering these persons^ and there are many ocGasionft 
when an acquaintance with their language would answer a useful 
purpose. Some of the most valuable productions in literature 
and theology, in the arts and sciences, proceed from the gifted 
pens of authors* on the continent of Europe, who publish their 
thoughts in words foreign to an American. It may be said that 
many of the most valuable of these are translated into the 
English language as rapidly as they appear. This is true. — 
But aiany are never translated; and it is well known that the 
master of the original language possesses a great superiority over 
one who is compelled to depend on a mere translatio-n. 

It would be easy to extend these remarks, but it is vmneces- 
sary. It may be added,, in conclusion, that the University of 
Georgia has not heretofor®- bestowed that attention to the acquisi- 
tion of these languages, which they have received in many simi- 
lar Institutions aiid which their importance should command. — 
The French is the only modern language to which the slightest 
attention has heretofore been given ; and even this has generally 
been an appendage of the chair of Natural History. We believe 
that, not only the French, but other modern languages, especially 
the German and the Spanish, should have a place in the course. 
This cannot be done without providing means for the employment 
of a Professor, to whom the business shall be especially committed. 

2d. As to the School of Agriculture, which is submitted in con- 
nection with the argument and papers heretofore published in re- 
lation to the Terrell professorship : 

The patriotic and enlightened citizen who founded the Terrell 
Professorship of Agriculture in Franklin College, gives the fol- 
lowing reasons for his munificent donation : 

*' The best form of government for a country where a system 
of Agriculture 3>revaiis that is constantly tending to impoverish 
the soil, cannot long sustain a thrifty population, or defend itself. 
To avoid such a calamity, which there is reason to fear will be 
our condition at no distant day. the people of the Southern States 
must find the means of preserving their lands from destruction, so 
strikingly observable in every part of the country. To aid in 
this great enterprise, if you will allow me to call it such, I pro- 
pose to give to Franklin College bonds of the State to the amount 
of twcjity thousand dollars." 

Bonds to the amount named have been received, and the gen- 
tleman recommended by the donor to fill the new Professorship, 
has been appointed, and is now discharging its duties. As the 
State Bonds draw but six per cent, interest, the income accruing 
to the Terrell Professorship of Agriculture, is only $1200 per an- 
num, and a little more than half the salary of the other Professors. 
In consequence of the smallness of the amount annually expended 
for agricultural instruction, in the College, the Professor is not re- 
quired to give lectures more than half of the year; whereas, this im- 
portant department of useful knowledge, demands the services of 
a competent teacher during the whole College Terms. 

Dr. Terrell thus designates the subjects upon which lectures 
are to be given : 

** Agriculture as a Science; the Analysis of Soils; Chemistry 



8 

and Geology, so far as they may be useful in Agriculture ; Ma- 
nures; Domestic Economy and the Improvement of different 
People ; particularly referring to the Southern States." 

In justice to the public and the cause of liberal education, the 
Board of Trustees could not decline the offer of t^yenty thousand 
dollars, in trust for the purposes named ; although it involves the 
necessity of erecting a building for an agricultural lecture-room, 
museum and laboratory, and, probably, the farther endowment of 
the Terrell Professorshij), so that the incumbent will receive 
$2000 a year, or the same sum paid to the other Professors, and 
in return, give his whole time to the service of the Institution and 
the State. 

In view of these facts, it may not be out of place to suggest, 
that it is the true policy of the State of Georgia, blest with so 
many wealthy citizens, to encourage them to give liberally and 
habitually for educational purposes. This noble object of educa- 
ting and elevating the masses, and making the popular sovereignty 
of the State as wise as it is independent, is attainable only by 
legislative co-operation with such citizens as the lamented Terrell. 
If the people of a commonwealth will do nothing through their 
Legislature, to cultivate agricultural knowledge, and prevent the 
impoverishment of the land that feeds all and clothes all, what 
possible encouragement is there for patriotic individuals to labor 
in their behalf? None can study the history of popular education 
in the United States, and not be deeply impressed with the fact 
that private citizens do more, voluntarily, for its advancement^ 
where the law-making power appropriates liberally for a similar 
purpose, than where Legislatures are remiss in the discharge of 
this great republican duty. 

To erect the necessary buildings and fixtures for the Terrell 
Professorship of Agriculture, and raise the salary so as to com- 
mand the w^iole time and talents of a competent teacher, twenty 
thousand dollars more are required. 

3d. As to the application of Science to the Industrial Arts : 

It has been frequently objected to our systems of education, 
that they do not thoroughly respond to the wants of our age, and 
more })articularly of our own country ; that they do not sufficiently 
prepare the mind for the active duties of life : in short, that they 
are not sufficiently practical. 

There are at least two kinds or systems of education, which are 
radically distinct in their very conception ; the one, the liberal 
education, which has for its object the universal and symmetrical 
development of the mind, a universal capacity for acting, but 
without direct reference to any particular sphere of action ; the 
other, the practical education; which is designed as a direct prepa- 
ration for a sort of apprenticeship to some particular trade, pro- 
fession or pursuit in life. As applied to an University course, each 
of these systems have had their exclusive advocates. It is now, 
however, beginning to be generally acknowledged, that both are 
equally nccessa.iy in a complete education. There is a time in 
the life of every one, when education must be general, or else it 
will result in mental deformity. There is also a time when it 
ought to become jiractical, or else the pupil is thrown upon the 



arena of active life, without the power of contending with the ma- 
terial ills through which he is expected to win his way to 
distinction. 

Of these two equally necessary kinds of education, it is the lat- 
ter which is most loudly called for by the spirit and requirements 
of our age and country ; and yet it is the former only which is of- 
fered by the University of Georgia and by most of the institutions 
of our country. It is with a view of supplying this defect that it 
is proposed to connect with our State University a ''School of Ap- 
plied Science^ 

Among the States of the South, it is to Georgia it most natu- 
rally belongs, to commence an enterprise which is already consid- 
ered of the utmost importance among the more advanced States 
of the North. If Georgians are justly proud of their State, it is 
not so much, perhaps, on account of her superior culture and re- 
finement as it is for her strong and manly spirit of practical enter- 
prise ; it is that in material prosperity, she is laying the sure basis 
of a high and lasting civilization. We are at this moment remark- 
able among the Southern States for our rail roads, manufactories, 
mines, &c.; in fine, for all pursuits in which the practical knowl- 
edge and application of science form the basis of success ; and 
yet we have no school where these subjects are taught. We are 
still dependent on the North, frequently for the men and always 
for the education. The future prosperity and still more, the honor 
of our State, demand that this should be otherwise. 

Schools of applied science are now in successful operation in 
all the most civilized countries of Europe, as Avell as in the more 
advar,ced States oi our own couniry. Such (to mention only a 
few) are the Polytechnic Schools of France, the Government 
School of Mines recently established in England ; and in our own 
country, the Polytechnic School of Troy, New York, and the Sci- 
entific Schools of Harvard and Yale Colleges. The universal ex- 
perience is that of complete success. In fact, in no instance has a 
school founded upon this basis, proved a failure. The connection 
of such a school with our State University, would immediately 
and very materially increase its usefulness and dignify its charac- 
ter ; it would immediately place her in the very first rank among 
the institutions of our country. 

In any school of applied science such as that which it is pro- 
posed to connect with our State University, the departments most 
necessary, because most intimately connected with practical life 
are: 1st. Ihe department of Y^ngineering, or the application of 
Mechanics and Physics in the Construction of Rail Roads, Build- 
ings, Bridges, Machinery, &c. 2d. The dej>artmcnt of Practical 
Chemistry, or the application of that science in the arts of dye- 
ing, calico-printing, in the manufacture of various articles of com- 
mercial value or common use ; in the arts of assaying metals and 
of testing and reduction of metallic ores; and 3d. The depart- 
ment of Practical Geology or the application of this science in the 
art of mining. In the event of the confidently expected success 
of the school, other departments might in time be added, such as 
the departments of practical Astronomy, Zoology and Botany. 

For complete instruction in the three departments first men- 



10 

tioned, viz : those of Engineering, Chemistry and Geology, at 
least three Professorships will be necessary. The endowment of 
these, however, will not require a very large sum ; for the profes- 
sorships in scientific schools should always be, in a measure, self- 
supporting. From the very nature of the school, it is evident that 
the departments must be elective, each student selecting such de- 
partment or departments as will best prepare him for the particu- 
lar pursuit which he has chosen. Each department will, there- 
fore be, to a considerable extent, supported by the fees of its own 
students. It is absolutely necessary, however, that there should 
be attached to each department, such an endowment as will place 
it above contingencies. For this purpose, it is proposed that there 
should be attached to each professorship an endowment sufficient 
to create a salary of $1000, i. e. .an endowment of from $15,000 
to $17,000. Besides this, there will be necessary a building for 
the chemical laboratory and another for the engineering room, 
which will require $10,000 more ; making in all, from fifty-five to 
sixty thousand. 

4th. A plea for the Education of Teachers : 

The reports of the last census show that there are in the 
State of G-eorgia, 41,000 adults unable to read and write, and 
that this is an increase on the number reported in 1840, of a per 
cent, greater than that of the white population. This fact clearly 
proves that with us, the cause of education is not advancing, but 
rather retrograding. Our wants then are evident, we want teach- 
ers, native-born teachers, to establish schools of a high order in 
every county and village. 

To secure this object and to enlarge the usefulness of the Uni- 
versity, the Trustees propose, as a return to the people for the ap- 
propriations now solicited, to educate for teachers, free of expense, 
indigent young men. Provided, each one of the persons so edu- 
cated, shall pledge himself to teach within the limits of the State 
as many years as he may enjoy the privilege of being a student 
free of expense. They propose to devote to this purpose such an 
amount as will allow to each one of these indigent young men who 
may be appointed, $150 a year to pay his board and other contin- 
gencies ; and in addition, to grant him the liberty of enjoying all 
the privileges of a student of the University, without charge for 
tuition fees. The applicants should be appointed from difierent 
parts of the State, five from each Congressional Distrist, under 
the name of State St;udents of the University of Georgia : and 
to receive the appointment, there should be required testimonials 
to show that the applicant is not able to incur the expense of a 
college edifcation ; and that he possesses talent to appreciate the 
advantages of a University course. 

The advantages arising from a successful plan of this kind 
will soon be felt and acknowledged throughout every part of the 
State. The plan proposes to select from the youug men of the 
State, those who, possessing talent, have not the means to procure 
the advantages of a college education ; to educate them, free of 
the expense of beard and tuition, they pledging themselves in 
return, to teach within the State as many years as they may have 
enjoyed the privileges of State Students. Many meritorious an4 



11 

talented young men throughout the State, would thus receive the 
advantages of a full college course, some of whom would, no- 
doubt, in time, add much to the reputation of our State. Beside 
good results flowing from the education of poor and talented 
young men, the State would receive the immediate benefit of en- 
listing in the cause of education the whole body of youthful energy 
and talent. There would thus be turned out from the University 
annually, a number of teachers, who being campetentto establish 
schools of a high order, would do much towards advancing the cause 
of education. Of these students, there would be many who^ 
finding the profession pleasant and lucrative, would adopt it per- 
manently, and there would thus in time be established through- 
out the State, a net-work of schools of a higher order, and 
from these would issue the teachers of the primary schools. 

According to the plan proposed, there would be annually grad- 
uated an average of about twelve University teachers. In ten 
years these would amount to 120. A large proportion would, no 
doubt, adopt the profession permanently ; giving in that time, 
about eighty established schools; and from these, most beneficial 
results would follow. And thus the number of schools would con- 
tinue to increase till the whole State would be amply supplied. 

Thus it would seem, the most effective way to advance the cause 
of education, would be to grant the appropriation solicited, there- 
by enabling the University to throw open her halls, free of ex- 
pense, to these indigent young men, who, in return for the advan- 
tages thus offered, would in time form an efficient corps of South- 
ern-born and Southern-taught teachers. 

5th. As to the Law School : 

The science of law should in some measure and in some degreer 
be the study of every free citizen and of every freeman; because 
every free cititizen and freeman has duties to perform and rights 
to claim. Unless, therefore, in some measure and in some degree, 
he knows those duties and those rights, lie can never act a just or 
independent part. 

Happily, the general and most imp/ortant principles of law are 
not removed to a very great distance from|common apprehension. 
It has been said of religion, that, although the elephant can swim,, 
the lamb may wade in it. Concerning law, the same observation 
may be made. The home navigation carried on along our rivers 
and sea shores is more necessary and more useful too, than that 
which is pursued through tliie deep and expanded ocean. A man 
may be a most excellent coaster, though he possess not the nau- 
tical accomplishments of Hudson and of Cooke. On many of our 
Rail Eoads, the way freights and passage is more profitable than 
the through. 

The knowledge of those rational principles on which the law is 
founded, ought especially in a free government, to be diffused 
over the whole community. In a free country, every citizen forms 
a part of the sovereign power. He possesses a vote or takes a 
still more active part in the business of the commonwealth. The 
right and the duty of taking that share in public affairs, are ne- 
cessarily attended witli the obligation of making that business the 
object of his study and inquiry. 





12 

In the United States and in this State, every citizen is fre- 
quently called upon to act in this public character. He both 
elects and takes a personal share in the Executive, Legislative 
and Judicial Departments of the Government. It is here that a 
man who wishes to do right, with the helps at his command and 
the assistance afforded him, is seldom under the necessity of be- 
ing wrong. But it is equally true and ought not to be concealed, 
that the rights of his fellow-citizens demand from him the neces- 
sary education in order to learn the duties which it may be in- 
cumbent on him to perform. 

One great truth can never be too deeply impressed that the 
weight of the Government of this mighty republic and of each 
state comprising the Federal Union, rests on the shoulders of the 
people. Should not ample means be provided to acquire by vigor- 
ous exercise and proper training, a degree of strength which will 
prove sufficient in the hour of trial, to support the weighty bur- 
den thus laid upon the citizen ? Is there not great danger that 
when the rights of the people are not understood, they will be illy 
exercised ? 

We laugh andjustly too, at the transatlantic doctrine, that men 
are born rulers. Is there not danger here of being wrecked on the 
same rock ? Are Americans sovereigns ? The People any more 
than William the Fourth or Charles the Tenth, or Ferdinand the 
iSJ'eapolitan Butcher, born with a capacity to govern ? Is it not to 
be acquired here as there, by previous preparation ? So thought 
the men of the Revolution, "and there were giants in those days." 
As early as 1642, those high-spirited men, of unquestionable prin- 
ciples, who preferred leaving their native country and living in 
the savage solitude of a wilderness, rather than live in a land of 
prosperity and plenty, where they could not enjoy civil and relig- 
ious^liberty, passed the first legislative enactment that the State 
should take upon itself the charge of the public education. In 
the preamble, those champions of freedom, whose memory we 
cherish with deepest veneration, distinctly pledged themselves to 
the principle that Education was *'a matter of the deepest possi- 
ble importance and the greatest possible interest to all nations and 
to all communities; and that as such, it was in an eminent degree 
deserving of the peculiar attention of a State." *• Educate the 
People" was the first admonition of Penn to the commonwealth 
he founded. " Educate the People " was thelast legacy of Wash- 
ington to his countrymen.. "Educate the People" was the un- 
ceasing exhortation of Jefferson, whose gi'eatest delight, it has 
been truthfully said, was to pare down the functions of govern- 
ment to the lowest possible point and to leave the freest possible 
scope for the exercise of individual exertion. Notwithstanding 
such was the disposition and political mission of Mr. Jefferson, the 
latter portion of his long and useful life, was devoted with ceaseless 
energy to the enterprise of procuring the blessings and benefits of a 
State education for Virginia, and success crowned the effort. Her 
nobly endowed University, with its Law and Medical Schools 
and every other department, demanded by the wants of the age 
and adapted to the genius of our people and republican institu- 
tions, already numbers between five and six hundred pupils. 



13 

The rights and du:}ies of jurors in this country, are great and ex- 
tensive. Is it not of immense consequence that jurors should 
possess the spirit of just and enlightened discernment, to discrimi- 
nate between right and wrong, the innocent and the guilty ] To 
discharge worthily the duties of their high vocation, every juror, 
especially every grand juror, should know something of the gen- 
eral principles of the law. The dignity, as well as the importance 
of a juror's functions, depend on the ability with which they are 
discharged. True, jurors are entitled to the assistance of the 
Court ; but it is also true, that after they receive it, they have the 
right, in criminal matters a't least, of judging for themselves. At- 
tached to this right, is the great corresponding duty of deciding 
properly. 

But in the administration of justice, that part of the Govern- 
ment which comes home most intimately 'to the business and the 
bosoms of men, they are judges as well as jurors. We have in 
Georgia as many Ordinaries and five times as many Justices of 
the Inferior Court as we have counties, to say nothing of the vast 
numbers of subordinate magistrates. Through the hands of the 
Ordinary, every estate in the State is continually passing. All 
the widows and orphans in the land are the wards of this Court. 
What a high and holy trust ! Vastly responsible duties devolve 
on the other tribunals. The Inferior Courts possess concurrent 
Constitutional jurisdiction, with the Superior, over all cases, except 
questions affecting the titles to land, the trial of free white citi- 
zens for crimes, and of slaves and free persons of color, for cap- 
ital felonies. 

Ought not this numerous, useful and honorable body of magis- 
tracy, to be men of professional attainments ? We do not insist 
that they should be learned in the law. Far from it. But ought 
not the State University, endowed by the wisdom of our patri- 
otic forefathers in 1785, to supply all who may be called on to fill 
these respectable and responsible stations, the means of becom- 
ing acquainted with the fundamental principles of the law ? How 
can those be expected to direct others who know not the road 1 

We ascend to a station more elevated still. Here, the doors of 
public honors and public offices are on the broad principles of pub- 
lic equality, thrown open to all. A laudable emulation, an emu- 
lation that ought to be encouraged in a free Government, may 
prompt a man to read the Jaws as well as to interpret them ; and to 
legislate, not only for a single State, but for the most august nation 
that has yet been organized on the face of the globe. Should 
not he who is to reform the law, and suppljyexisting deficiencies 
know what additions are needed and what these defects are ? 
Should not he who would introduce alterations, know wherein 
the law needs changing? Especially should not the Chief 
Magistrate of the State, the members of Congress and of the State 
Legislature enjoy the opportunity while pursuing their Academic 
studies, to be taught the principles and elements of the law, 
more especially of Constitutional law? Why is the present Go- 
vernor of this State, the two Senators and eight Representatives 
to Congress and such a large proportion of this General Assem- 
bly, (of which, as Georgians, we arc justly proud) taken from th 





14 

legal profession 1 Is it not the spontaneous judgment of the peo- 
ple, in favor of the endowment we are asking ? 

Not to be tedious, we have omitted to present a great variety of 
interesting views in connection with the subject. We shall be 
pardoned ior glancing at a few others. Every man is bound to 
know the law at his peril. Is not the State, as a kind parent, 
bound to provide a school for legal education? Is not prevention 
better than cure ? Again, every man in this country, is not only 
his own lawyer, but his neighbor's also. What a very small por- 
tion of deeds and wills 'arol^(Jrawn up in an Attorney's office, not 
to mention the ten thousand other instruments by which contracts 
are evidenced. How many wills fail on account of not being ar- 
tistically drawn; having for instance, two witnesses only or none 
atall, when thejBw r^c|i^ires.thref^. It is thought indispensable 
for a lawyer to «study niemdal jurisprudence and so it is. It is 
equally necessary that physicians, who are called on to write or 
attest wills, should make themselves acquainted with the law 
upon this subject. A course of College Lectures would supply 
this desideratum. Well might Mr. Burke say of the law that it 
was not only the first and noblest of human sciences, but that it 
had more to do with the interests of society, than every other 
kind of learning pu4b.together. How obviously defective then is 
that system which endows professorships of the dead languages 
and makes no provision for teaching the law, of sales of agency, 
of partnerships, of promissory notes aud bills of exchange, of in- 
surance, of shipping, of bailments, of banks and rail roadh and 
other corporations, of real estate, of wills, of executors and. ad- 
ministrators, of husband and wife, parent and child, master and 
servant, guardian and ward ? 

That a law education is necessary for those intended for the 
profession of the law, it would be as ridiculous to atttempt to 
prove as to deny. In other countries, public institutions bear a 
standing testimony to this truth. Ought this to be the only State 
without them ? Justinian, who did so much for the Roman Law, 
was, as might have been expected, uncommonly attentive to form 
and establish a proper plan for studying it. All the modem na- 
tions^ of Europe have admitted the profession of their municipal 
jurisprudence into their Universities and other seminaries of lib- 
eral education., 

In Englandaumer^s and ample provisions have been made for 
this purpose. Eor yoiing gentlemen there are eight houses of 
chancery, where theji learn the first elements of law. For those 
more advanced in thpstudies, there are four Inns of Court. ** All 
these together," said Lord Coke, with conscious professional 
pride, ** compose the most illustrious University in the world, for 
the profession of the law." Here lectures are read, exercises are 
performed and degrees in the common law conferred in the same 
manner as degrees in the civil and canon law in other universi- 
ties. Since Lord Coke's day, professorships of law have been 
established in the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford and at 
King's College and the London University; and the Law Institute 
in the metropolis, has been founded. Then there are the cham- 
bers of pleaders, conveyancers and equity draftsmen. Aud still 



15 

England is considered by the jurists of that country, as deficient 
in the means of communicating practical legal knowledge. They 
are strenuously urging the immediate endowment of a Legal 
University in England. 

This important subject early attracted the attention of the 
Northern States. Many of the public men now upon the arena 
in Georgia, received their professional education at Litchfield, 
Connnecticut. And the venerated names of Gould and Reeves 
will long be affectionately cherished by their numerous pupils. — 
More recently, the Law School at Cambridge has attracted the 
lai-^est share of public patronage. It has been for many years 
the only institution where young men, destined for the bar, could 
receive a thorough legal education. 

But the question which now presents itself (and one more deeply 
interesting cannot come up.) Shall our youth, the men who are 
to mould in a great measure the institutions of this State, be com- 
pelled to resort to New or Old England to obtain a law education? 
Many, on account of their straitened circumstances, cannot go 
abroad. Shall such be shut out from the opportunity of acquiring 
a legal education ? Forbid it, everything that is generous, noble 
and just! Let all come and welcome; and above all others, he 
who, though poor in property, is rich in intellect and whose heart 
swells with a pure and stirring ambition, to partake of the bril- 
liant rewards of professional distinction. 

But even for the wealthy, is Cambridge the school for the study 
of the law, especially Constitutional law ? Is Georgia content 
to be the vassal of this once proud but fallen commonwealth ? — 
One indignant negative will be the response of every patriotic 
Southron. Even Judge Story, the Dane Professor at Cambridge 
did not deign, in the first edition of his earlier works, to cite an 
authority from a slave State, in support of his text. The same 
year (1785) that this University was chartered, an act was passed 
declaring that any person, under the age of sixteen years, 
who should be sent abroad without the limits of the United 
States and reside there three years, for the purpose of receiving 
an education under any foreign power, that such person, after 
their return to this State, should for three years be considered and 
treated as aliens, in so far as not to be eligible to a seat in^the Le- 
gislature, or Executive authority, or to hold any office civil or mil- 
itary in the State, for that term and so in proportion, for any greater 
number of years, as he or they should be so absent. That statute 
remains unrepealed to this day. Is the contamination of a for- 
eign education more to be dreaded than one in Massachusetts ? Is 
Berlin worse than Boston 1 

One other thought before we dismiss this subject. It has been 
said that every lawyer owes it to his profession to write a book. 
Why have we no legal authors this side of Mason & Dixon's line ? 
The answer is obvious ; Libraries and other facilities are want- 
ing. A member of the bar, who promises to be an ornament, not 
only to his profession, but to his uative State, is at this time en- 
gaged in preparing for the press a Treatise on the Law of Slave- 
ry, a desideratum in this country, notwithstanding of making of 
books there is no end. But he finds his researches clogged at 



16 

every step for want of access to the proper sources of information. 
He lias ransacked the libraties of the North and of Europe, to 
procure materials, at immense expense, to enable him to execute 
his task with satisfaction to himself and credit to the South ; and 
the result will be that much that has passed as authority upon 
trust in the Conflict of Laws, by Judge Story, and other stand- 
ard works, as regards the institution of slavery, has either been 
misunderstood or misrepresented by those who are and have been 
diligently engaged in the unholy crusade of warring upon our in- 
stitutions and undermining our rights. 

Give us then a Law School, with its ample library and moot 
court, without which, all professional education will be essentially 
defective; and the young lawyer will not be doomed to linger long in 
obscurity and on expense, for want of this practical and experiment- 
al training. We repeat, grant us these facilities and a new and 
brighter era will dawn upon our great and glorious old State. 
TVe ask not for the magnificent endowments of other States and 
Nations, their schools, their libraries, their museums and galleries 
of art, their stately dwellings, the commodious apartments and the 
solid comforts provided both for instructors and pupils. But we 
do ask of the State a patronage, in some degree worthy of the 
greatness of the object and the dignity of the donor. 

For this endowment, a suitable building must be erected, at an 
expense of some $10,000 ; a library purchased at a cost of $5,000, 
and each professorship, should more than one be established, will 
require the additional sum of 825,000. As a mere financial en- 
terprise, the State could not make a more profitable investment. 

We are done ; and we submit our appeal with confidence to 
that public whose stewards we are ; and with still more confi- 
dence, to a future age which, while enjoying all the blessings of 
a liberal system of State Education, will look back with astonish- 
ment to the opposition which that system encountered ; and cher- 
ish with affectionate gratitude the memory of its far-seeing friends 
and founders. 

At a meeting of the Board of Trustees held in the Executive 
Chamber, November 9tli, 1855, Present : Ex-Governor Lump- 
kin, Gilmer and Cobb, Governor Johnson, Judge Lumpkin, Col. 
Jackson, Judge Hilly er. Dr. Wingfield, Col, Chappell, Dr. Reese, 
Dr. Mercer and William L. Mitchell, Esq., the foregoing memorial 
was unanimously adopted, and ordered to be printed and pre- 
sented to the General Assembly. 

A. CHURCH, President. 

A. Hull, Secretary. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 934 095 8 




